Output details

Designing with a responsive colour palette : The development of colour and pattern changing products

The output demonstrates practice-led research in the area of smart textiles/materials. The research reported in the paper describes the electronic systems developed to support the investigation of liquid crystal thermochromic materials in output 1 with the support of a Smart.Idea Award funded by the TSB (Technology Strategy Board) to look at different market opportunities for LCR Hallcrest (UK manufacturer of temperature sensing products).

The paper presents an illustrated discussion of the development of two different electronic systems for controlled heating and analyses their effectiveness in creating colour and pattern change when brought together with thermochromic textiles. The two systems reported were developed in collaboration with electronic engineers and were optimised for specific patterned heat transfer to thermochromic fabric. These two novel systems generated silhouette heat-profiles on the surface of fabric. Prior research work had mainly dealt with linear (woven) integration of heating mechanisms for smart textiles applications.